Parents of baby boy who drowned in bath found guilty of manslaughter

The parents of a 13-month-old boy who drowned in a bath have been found guilty of manslaughter.

Worcester Crown Court heard Lisa Passey and Wayne Dale left their son, Kian, unsupervised in a bath seat for at least 13 minutes to talk to friends and burn music onto a CD.

Passey was downstairs with a friend drinking coffee, while Dale was ‘socialising, listening to music’ and using his computer, the court heard.

Mr Hankin told the court: ‘When, finally, Wayne Dale went upstairs to the bathroom, baby Kian had drowned.

‘He was found lying over the back of the bath seat with his head and upper body immersed.’

After Kian was found lifeless in the water, Passey dialled 999 telling the operator her baby had ‘drowned in the bath’.

The pair, from Tenbury Wells in Worcestershire, will also be sentenced for neglect at a hearing later this month.